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Sunset Blvd (1950) This
film was seen three or four years ago , but the plot is basically forgotten, I only remember the scene at the beginning of the film, and I didn’t know much about old Hollywood movies at that time. Now I watch it again and re-experience it.
The film tells the story of a relationship between a down-and-out playwright and a former actress. A playwright who wants to realize his dream in Hollywood, because of his limited ability, the things he writes are not accepted by the studio, which makes his life very embarrassing. One day someone came to collect his car, and he bought himself a day with a lie. The next day, the person who collected the car saw him and his car on the road, and the playwright had to drive away. During the escape, he accidentally entered a desolate mansion. The hostess of the mansion is an out-of-date silent movie actress. When she was lonely, she learned that the actor was a playwright and asked him to edit the script she wrote. Playwrights with no money and no jobs embraced it. The playwright, who wanted to take it home to work, found out the next day that all his belongings had been moved in by the actress' servant, and he had to live in a mansion. On New Year's Eve, the actress threw a separate dance for the playwright, and he realized that the actress wanted him as her lover. The playwright who couldn't take it left in a rage and went to the place where his friends frequented, where he met his friend's girlfriend. However, the playwright learned on the phone that the actress committed suicide because of his sadness. The playwright had to go back to the actress and become a man who was taken care of. After a good time, the actress came to Paramount to find a director who had been working with her for a long time and wanted to make her script into a movie. The actress' script was terrible, and the director didn't want to hit her, so she had to go back and wait for news. After the actress went home happily, she started doing beauty treatments every day to prepare for the new movie. The playwright was secretly writing a script every night with his friend's girlfriend. Because of this time, the two also fell in love. After learning that the playwright has a young girl, the actress threatens her behind the playwright's back, trying to make the girl stop. However, all this was discovered by the playwright. The playwright immediately sent the girl to the mansion, told her the truth, and dismissed the girl from wanting to be with him. After the girl left, the playwright planned to leave the mansion and leave the outdated actress. The actress who couldn't accept it, shot the playwright to death with a gun in her excitement, and then went crazy. The next day, news reporters came, and many cameras came. After learning that the camera was coming, the actress immediately entered the state, as if returning to the time when she was shooting movies. And so the movie ends with a terrifying close-up of the actress's face.
The film tells the story of two people who are not accepted by society, an untalented playwright and an outdated female star. Through this strange exchange between the two of them, the cruelty of Hollywood and the reality of society are shown, and we can see the other side of Hollywood's glorious life, and see their sad and desolate living conditions and psychological states. That's what the film is about, to put it simply, to bring out the dark side of Hollywood.
The film focuses on the tragic life of the actress. Actresses were once brilliant, once all-powerful, and once looked at by thousands of people, but this was all 20 years ago. Today, she only has a dilapidated mansion, a desolate room, and piles of cold and dead photos, portraits, and of course those silent movies that have no voice but only expressions. This kind of sudden life change made it difficult for the actress to accept, which caused her to be like this: she does not go out, does not contact the society, and does not accept anything new. She only interacts with regular friends and lives like a corpse. The change in life status also makes it difficult for the actress to accept psychologically, so she suffers from depression, needs to live in fantasy every day, and does not regard her life as important, such as suicide as a means of gaining sympathy. The main thing is that she lived a lonely life without a man to accompany her. And all this changed because of the appearance of the playwright, the actress was like grabbing a life-saving straw, she grabbed him fiercely - she finally had someone to accompany her! In short, the life of the actress has been twisted to an extreme, and there is no one more pitiful and tragic than her in Hollywood.
The former actress lives a life like a walking dead, and the main reason for her like this is the huge change brought about by the big leap in Hollywood movies from silent to sound films. Specifically about the decline of silent films and the rise of sound films, I won't say much. In short, the transition from silent films to sound films is the general trend, and no one can stop the wheel of history. As we often say, we can't change the world, we can only change ourselves, but the past actress in the movie chose another way, closing herself up and living in a world woven by herself. It is precisely this choice that caused her tragedy, not only her tragic life, but also the consequence of killing the playwright because she could not bear the loneliness. Ironically, when the camera reappeared to her, she was satisfied, and she got the coveted appearance. At this time, she no longer considers the purpose of photography, she is completely crazy!
The playwright is also a loser. He has ideals, passion, and is still very young. Although his life is temporarily embarrassed, he has a bright future. But in order to survive, she chose to be fostered and became the caged bird of a past actress. These are all signs of cowardice by the playwright, who would rather eat the food than be a man with a backbone. In addition, when he has a beloved woman, he does not have the courage to fight for love. This choice of the playwright, in addition to showing the unmanly side of this man, also reflects the cruelty of the real world in Hollywood. Talented people can get ahead, and people without talent can only be a man! Although the United States has the American Dream and Hollywood is a dream land, all this is illusory. The content of this film really reflects the real Hollywood - it is no different from other worlds, it is also a country where the fittest survives and the strong eat the weak.
In addition to the two protagonists, the servant portrayed in the movie is also a peculiar character. As the discoverer and first husband of actresses, he indulges everything about actresses. The servants weave everything about the actress's fake life, fake fan letters, hide all kinds of truths, arrange all kinds of unreasonable activities for the actress, and so on. His love for actresses is no longer a normal love, but a kind of deep doting. This deep doting of the servant also contributed to the destruction of the actress, and he played a role in fueling the flames. So, he is also a tragic figure.
This is the encounter of such a few sad people, which also triggered a tragedy. In fact, if past actresses and playwrights can live in peace like this, they can also live a carefree zombie life. It's a pity that the little bit of man's dignity left by the playwright destroyed all of this. Wanting to eat soft rice, but not eating thoroughly, this is all a man's self-esteem at work. So, there is the tragic ending of the movie - the playwright is killed and the old actress is murdered.
The movie has a quirky plot, so it needs a quirky vibe. The film perfectly satisfies this requirement. Lenses, pictures, music, costumes, scenery, etc. are all condensing this strange atmosphere. Their existence, combined with the performances of the actors, makes the film exude a quirky air, a dead silence like the life of an outdated actress. The atmosphere of this film is a good foil for the story of the film. In addition, the style of this film was rare in the 1950s.
The film has very few main actors, only four. The heroine Gloria Swanson's acting is perfect, she can be said to be a true performance. She herself is an outdated silent movie actress, and she is familiar with playing such a role. Her acting skills are also really good, from her imitation of Chaplin's movements and the close-up of her face collapsed at the end of the film, these two scenes show her superb acting skills. The male protagonist William Holden is very handsome in this film, but he has no special features. I have seen him starring in "Spirit of the Battlefield" before, but I didn't remember until I read his profile that he was a bit of a failure as an actor. Erich von Stroheim, who plays the servant, has seen him starring in "The Great Phantom". He was originally a German actor and also went to Hollywood to pan for gold. Another heroine, Nancy Olson, looks average, but she is very pure. There is zero information about her, and she does not seem to be very popular.
Overall, a tragic film that reflects reality, not good, but not ugly either.
Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson
Nancy Olson
Nancy Olson
Sequence: 0564
Sunset Boulevard.Sunset.Boulevard.1950.D9.MiniSD-TLF
2011-09-28
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